Monster
by Dreamicide
Summary: Sakura is visited by her son in the middle of the night. Sequal to Newborn. — ItachiSakura


**Notes: **(2010) - The sequal to the previous shocking angstfest known as 'Newborn.' Much less angst this time around. Enjoy.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own shit.

* * *

**Monster**

"…You and he are to have separate rooms."

"Yes."

"He needs to learn how to protect himself alone; you're babying him too much."

"I understand."

"And so you two won't do any sneaking around tonight. He's going to be _alone_."

"I _know_."

Itachi looked up at the woman and frowned. "Do we have any disagreements?"

The woman stared into his eyes and her eyebrows curved forward, "Even if I did have any problems, you wouldn't care. You'd just shrug if off, as always."

Itachi glared at her, and slowly walked up to her face and took hold of her soft chin. "We're becoming rather snappy, aren't we, Sakura…?" He leaned his face closer to hers, and murmured, "At least he's had the chance of living. Unlike his previous brother."

Shivers shot up and down her spine. Her small hands started trembling, but she quickly suppressed their movements in an effort to never show Itachi that she was afraid. _Never show your fear in front of this man. He'll trap you in a corner and break you. For the sake of your child, never show your fear…never show your fear…_Sakura remembered repeating those words to herself over and over again for many hours. Those days seemed like an eternity ago…

"Now," Itachi let go of her chin and began to walk out of the door. When he was under the wooden doorframe, he pointed to the right, "Kisame and I are going to be resting in that room. The one to the right. Down farther will be the boy's room. You will sleep here. I don't want you to make any movements whatsoever as soon as I leave, and in the morning, we will get up and move out. No questions asked."

Outside of Itachi's view, Sakura's hand balled into a fist. _So he plans to just move out from the hotel without paying for the stay. I know he isn't the kind of person to be concerned for petty theft like this, but…_

Hmph. There was no use in complaining, anyway. Sakura stood up as straight as her back would let her, and said, "I understand, Itachi-sama."

Itachi merely looked at her in response, then turned around and left, shutting the door behind him, leaving Sakura standing in her room alone.

_.o._

For the next few minutes, she was sitting on her bed with her palm pressing on her forehead. _This darn headache…_ She paused, and her face slowly saddened. _I wonder how he will do, all alone for the night…He still has a fear of the dark. I do hope he won't get scared. Maybe I could…_But before she could finish her sentence, her exhaustion overcame her and she slowly _plopped_ on her bed, softly snoring. Only a few minutes would pass before she started to dream.

.o.

"No! My baby! Give me my baby!" the cries of a young woman filled the area with a heavy and depressing weight.

_Nearby, a young man with cold, red eyes was glaring at her frigidly. _

"_You foolish child. You honestly expected me to accept this _thing_ and support it for life…?" he closed his eyes in irritation. "Hmph."_

_The woman's tears streamed down her face in warm rivers, "N-No, please! I'm sorry, Itachi-sama! I'm so sorry!" She reached up and gripped onto the man's clothing, "Please, I'm so sorry!"_

_The man glared at her hands annoyingly, and threw her hands off violently, tossing the woman a few feet from his legs. Landing with an, "Umph!" the woman laid on her side, wiping the blood off from her busted lips._

…

"_But…" she observed the droplets of blood crawling down her fingers. "But…he…" she slammed her eyes shut and clenched her fists tight enough to draw more blood from beneath her palm. In a ferocious rage, she drew herself up and dashed over to the man. "But he's your son!" she slammed into his chest and started pounding her fists against him. "You-don't-kill-your-son-!" she gasped each word in between punches. _

_When she finally became tired, she slumped to the ground, gripping her own heart in pain. "…tachi-sa…" she lurched forward and vomited on the ground, and Itachi stepped back in disgust. _

"Stop whining already. You were stupid to begin with. I'll let it go for once, but…Mom…Mommy…Mommy!"

_Sakura looked up, confused, "W-What?"_

_Itachi didn't move. He continued to stand there, repeating the same words._

"_Mommy…moooommy…Mommy! Mommy!"_

_Suddenly he began shrieking. "Mommy! Mommy! Wake up, mommy!" and suddenly leapt up and grabbed Sakura by the shoulders. "Mommy!" he began to fiercely shake her body until her bones rattled._

"_I-I-I-Itachi! St-stop it! Let g-go of me-e-e!" Sakura stammered, her head pounding._

"_No, Itachi-sama! Let go! Let go! Let go…_

…_Let go…"_

_.o._

"N…no, Itachi-sama…let go of me…"

"No, mommy! Wake up!"

"…ungh…"

_Ah…wait…what am I doing?_

Slowly, Sakura began to regain consciousness. She steadily opened her crusted eyes to find a small boy at her side, shaking her torso with his small arms. He was sobbing.

"Mommy, wake up, please! I'm scared!"

Sakura then jolted awake at the sight. "Ah! What are you doing here, baby?" she pushed herself upright and enclosed the boy's arms in a soft hug. "You're supposed to be sleeping in your room…"

Her son's eyes furrowed. "I don't like that room."

"But didn't you hear your father? He doesn't want you leaving," Sakura inwardly sighed.

The boy looked up at her sadly, "I don't like not being with you."

She softly smiled at his innocence. _How could someone like him be the son of _that man_? _"Come here, you…" Her son responded by crawling into her lap as she shifted his position so that his back was leaning against her chest, and she was cuddling him from behind.

"Sigh…Can't you even stand sleeping a whole night by yourself?"

Sakura heard her son quietly sniffle. He seemed to be hesitant about something…did he wet his bed? Instead, his answer wasn't what she had expected. "There's a monster following me."

Her ears pricked up, "A monster? Honey, what kind of a monster?"

The boy remained silent. His face began reddening, embarrassed that his fear had forced him to confront his mother. "…Like a boogeyman," he whispered.

"A boogeyman? There's a boogeyman following you?" she sighed with relief. In a world such as this, there was never telling what a child would consider to be a monster.

"Nuh-uh, _like_ a boogeyman."

"What does your monster look like?"

…

"…Like dad."

_.o._

"Hey, mommy…"

It was an hour after Sakura's son had come crying into the hotel room. They had since then shifted so that they lay on their stomachs, looking at each other on the bed.

"What is it, honey?"

"Umm." He began to play with the bed sheets. "Well, I mean…I don't know…I was just wondering…How come dad never calls me by my name? I mean…he always calls me 'Boy.'"

The air stiffened after he asked his question. Sakura's uneasiness rose to a new level as she thought of what the best thing would be to answer. Should she directly tell him the truth? No, he's a child…he wouldn't understand yet. Should she lie? No…she's a terrible liar. Should she change the subject? No, he would notice.

What to do? What to do? What to do?

"Your father is…a difficult man."

Well, it _was_ the truth. Just not the _whole_ truth. That still counts, right?

Her son did not seem to be completely satisfied with her answer, but decided not to question anymore. _He thinks that it's painful for me to talk about Itachi. _Sakura smiled to herself. _Bless him._

"Please do not worry about it too much, son. It's not that he _hates_ you and your name…the name just means something _different_ to him."

"He hates me," her son said bluntly.

"Honey, I just said that he _didn't_," Sakura gave him a stern look. "You should listen to your mother."

The boy's head drooped back onto the pillow in front of him. "I know, but…Father always acts so cold to me…"

"He is difficult," Sakura repeated. "Now, is there any other question you have for me? You know that I need to return you to your room after a while. You cannot stay here all night, or else your father will get mad."

Her son shivered, obviously thinking of the kinds of punishments he may receive. But he quickly subsided, and curiously looked up at Sakura. He began playing with the bed sheets again.

"Where do babies come from?"

…

Itachi, damn you.

_.o._

"Well, it all starts out with a woman and a man. Basically, you're here because of your father and me."

Her son nodded cutely.

"And when that man and woman love each other so much that they would do anything for them, er…" this was more awkward than Sakura thought it was going to be. How did her mother teach her about intercourse? Oh, no. Sakura just heard questionable content at the Ninja Academy and ran home crying to her mother, begging to know what she had just heard from her group of friends. But this situation is extremely different from Sakura's.

"…I shouldn't be here, then." She heard her son breathing.

Sakura jolted upright, shocked and upset. "And why do you say that, young man? You have every right to be here."

"Love is when you're happy, right? Love is when…when you don't get hurt."

…

How was she to possibly respond to this? How could her son feel that he shouldn't be alive? He was everything to her…if her son died, Sakura died.

Sakura reached across the bed sheets and lured her son over in a tight embrace against her chest. "Don't you ever dare say such things, honey," she whispered as she stroked his hair.

"Your father and I love each other very much…and we love you—"

The door busted open.

Sakura and the child jumped and turned to see Itachi looming in the doorframe. Quickly Sakura's heart froze cold and her throat became dry. "I…I…Ita…"

He did not respond. Instead he paced over to the bed and glared at the two of them. "If I remember correctly, I instructed the two of you to leave each other alone tonight."

"Itachi! Please, I'm sorry," Sakura gasped. "I-I just – It won't happen again." She felt her son freeze in place. Sakura could only guess that the color has also drained out of him.

…

Silence.

_Please, dear God, don't let him use the Mangekyou—_Sakura pleaded with herself, then stopped. _Why am I praying again…?_

"…Let this be a warning. If you two disobey me once more…I will let you guess what may happen. Boy," He jerked his head to their son. "Go back to your room."

Relieved that he would not be punished, the child slowly got up. Itachi motioned his head toward the door. _Follow me out, Boy,_ He was saying. Their son slowly nodded his head.

When the man made sure that the boy understood him, he made way to the door, but did not bother to wait for his son. His dark figure vanished as his son approached the door after him.

When the child looked out the door into the hallway and made sure Itachi was not around to hear, he stopped and turned around. He managed to compose one last smile before departing for the night, and said…

"I love you, mother!"

It had taken all of Sakura's composure to not start crying. Truth be told, her son _shouldn't_ be alive. Not because he was useless, not because he was a burden, no. But all Sakura ever wanted was to experience the love only a mother could make. She always envied watching the young mothers laughing with their children and scolding them. It seemed like there was nothing more she could ever want than a family. But it was her selfishness that brought her son into this cursed world. She brought him into a world where he lived by fear of his own father, a world where he questioned his own love.

She softly smiled back, and whispered…

"I love you, too...Sasuke."

The child nodded, and disappeared beyond the walls.

**End**


End file.
